An Garda Siochana are set to launch a major clampdown after it was revealed that more than 20,000 motorists have used a loophole to dodge penalty points.
According to the Independent.ie, convicted motorists are avoiding having points applied to their licence by failing to produce them in court. Over 20,000 instances were recorded between January 2014 and March 2015, which has led Justice Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, to order the clampdown.
Failure to produce a driving licence in court carries a fine of up to €2,000 or three months in prison but according to figures, 90 per cent of convicted motorists in Limerick and Leitrim have used the ploy to avoid penalty points.
The information came to light after a series of parliamentary questions tabled by independent TD, Tommy Broughan. It showed that of the 28,387 motorists convicted of penalty point offences in district courts over the 15-month period only 8,059 had their licence number recorded so the points could be applied to that licence.
According to the Courts Service, in cases where licence numbers were not provided, the Road Safety Authority undertakes "a matching exercise to match the conviction with a specific driving licence" but the Department of Transport admitted: "It is not always possible to achieve a match and in these cases penalty points are not assigned to individual driving licence records."
Gardai have been instructed to target repeat offenders and to liaise with court clerks as part of the operation. So far, seven court houses have been targeted initially and the clamp down is being rolled out nationwide.